Chord Electronics today formally launched their Poly to the world’s press at the rather swanky Goring hotel in London’s Belgravia. But what is the Chord Poly and why would you want one? For live updates from the launch hop on over to our Facebook page

First of all you need to know what the Chord Mojo is. We’ve been using the Chord Mojo for a while here at Hifi Pig Towers, principally as a DAC/Headphone amp connected directly to the computer, but Mojo’s real strength is in its mobile capabilities. Sadly, being a bit of a luddite on the smartphone front, my phone (Wily Fox Smart +) doesn’t have On The Go capabilities meaning that I can’t connect Mojo directly to my phone, though this is a fault of the phone rather than Mojo. Linette’s phone does have OTG capability and Mojo works brilliantly on that and I’d go as far as to say it’s about as good as a portable DAC/headphone amp is likely to get.

Take The Stage Poly

Poly is a music streamer and Chord say it is the first of its kind in the world. When partnered with Mojo, it enables music streamed from a range of wirelessly connected devices to be enjoyed whether at home or out and about. But Poly is also a music player and it has a Micro SD slot that has unlimited capacity meaning that you can free up space on your smartphone and carry about huge collections of music and control the unit from your smartphone. You can also control the Poly/Mojo from everyday apps whilst streaming music too.

Poly directly connects to Mojo, it has the same aesthetics, basically it slots on the bottom of your Mojo, you plug in your headphones (you can have two pairs playing simultaneously) and you control what is played from your phone…so, in a simplistic way it’s like having a screenless portable music player that is controlled by your phone. It’s compatible with iOS and Android devices (and because it has wireless and bluetooth the issue with non-OTG phones no longer becomes an issue), but can also be used with computers and laptops. Adding Poly to the Mojo allows you to directly access your music stored on a NAS drive too.

Poly connects to Wi-Fi networks, including mobile hotspots when on the go, and remembers multiple networks with its auto-connect functionality. It also has Bluetooth 4.1, AirPlay and DLNA connectivity, offering uninterrupted music streaming when transitioning from indoors to outdoors. Poly also features its own hotspot mode, enabling a connection where devices, networks or countries do not facilitate tethering. Its rechargeable LiPo batteries offer up to nine hours of playback from a four-hour charge using the device’s fast-charging USB circuit and handily both Poly and Mojo can be charged simultaneously.

So, in short Poly is an add on to the Mojo that turns Mojo into a fully fledged streamer/player that allows streaming from connected devices both whilst at home or when out and about. The Micro SD slot is a great feature and I can fully see this being the way we would use Poly whilst traveling around, with us controlling it from a smartphone.

Latest Album Review

Positive-Feedback Ad

Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material (in part or in full) without express and written permission from this website’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Hifi Pig and Big Pig Media with appropriate and specific direction (link) to the original content. Hifi Pig is part of the Big Pig Media LLP group of companies.